3 held in New Bedford in connection with bombing suspect

The FBI detained three people in connection with Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar A.Tsarnaev after a raid at Hidden Brook apartment complex this evening, according to New Bedford Police.

Comment

By SIMÓN RIOS

southcoasttoday.com

By SIMÓN RIOS

Posted Apr. 19, 2013 at 8:50 PM
Updated May 15, 2015 at 2:57 PM

By SIMÓN RIOS

Posted Apr. 19, 2013 at 8:50 PM
Updated May 15, 2015 at 2:57 PM

» Social News

NEW BEDFORD—The FBI detained three people in connection with Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar A.Tsarnaev after a raid at Hidden Brook apartment complex this evening, according to New Bedford Police.

Lt. Robert Richard told The Standard-Times the FBI executed a search warrant, taking into custody two college-age males and one female who are believed to be fellow students or roomates of Tsarnaev.

“At this point they're being questioned as to... their familiarization with their suspect number two,” Richard said around 7:30 p.m., Friday.

The names of those taken into custody were not made public.

DEA agents were seen driving out of the complex off Carriage Drive, as a mass of federal, state and local police swarmed about. Neighbors flocked around the area, sharing rumors and cell phone images they had collected of the encounter.

Joe St. Pierre, a resident at the complex, said he overheard one of the men arrested being spoken to by an FBI agent.

“They said the kid got dropped off by the bomber at 4 p.m. (Thursday),” he said.

“I saw the FBI agent... come over and interrogate him,” St. Pierre said. “He was telling him, 'Don't even look at me, don't be smiling. You think this is a joke?' "

Fernandes said he stood there watching, and next thing he knew he had a rifle aimed at him with laser beams focused on his chest.

“It was very, very scary,” he said. “It reminds me of when Kennedy got assassinated, how time seemed to stand still.”

Joe Pimental was trying to get his groceries back to his apartment as police cordoned off the area.

“It's in my neighborhood. It's pretty crazy,” Pimental said.

“(I'm going to) move the hell out of here when my lease is up,” said Pimental, adding that he was born and raised in New Bedford. “I don't know who is in this neighborhood.”

Meanwhile at UMass Dartmouth, a police barricade remained as night fell and state agencies poured onto the campus.

At least two trucks from the State Fire Marshall's Office, joined by a U-Haul, drove in at about 7:30.

Officers manning the cordon at the edge of campus said there were “too many agencies here to name.”

Ten police cruisers and SUVs lined the entrance to campus, accompanied by unmarked sedans with state license plates. At least half a dozen police stood watch at the barricade, many armed with M-16 style assault rifles.